Call it What You Want
by PaintedGreyLady
Summary: Modern gender swap/ role reversal! William Bennett, perpetual bachelor and firm believer in his ability to remain so, could hardly believe that one woman, one arrogant, conceited, narcissistic, rude, gorgeous woman had been able to induce him into thinking, even for a second, that he had been wrong.
1. Prologue

Fitzwilliam Bennett, William to his friends, had been raised with one single truth engrained into his head above all others; that a single woman in possession of good fortune must be in want of a husband, or at least a serious boyfriend.

Yet, despite his mother's obsession with her son's marrying and therefore giving her lots and lots of adorable grandchildren and her constant complaints about his prolonged bachelor-hood and its effect on her 'poor nerves', William had long ago assured himself that nothing short of a passionate love and deep respect for his partner could entice him into marriage, regardless of the women's wealth, connections or appearance.

Will would have never thought this to be a romantic notion, more of a self-preserving precaution so that he didn't wake up one day, twenty years from now, and find himself married to a clone of Francine Bennett.

At twenty-four, William was perfectly contented to remain a bachelor for quite some time yet... or he would've been had not circumstance and an infuriating, insufferable, arrogant, conceited, gorgeous girl not ruined, perhaps forever, his hope of living happily without her.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N **for better realism in connection to the story Netherfield Park is to be referred to as 'Number 24' (as in house number on the street)

Will loved these moments, he thought to himself as he viewed the breaking waves far below. The moments when he felt himself to be standing at the edge of the world, and relishing in the recklessness, the wide span of ocean before him was not daunting, nor was the fifty metre drop down the eroding cliff face ending with jagged rocks and almost certain death. He turned his face to the horizon, and the rising sun, breathing a sigh of contentment.

This early morning ritual had become a habit of his in his teenage years. Waking early, before the rest of the household had risen; William would set out upon the beach trail, scaling the sheer cliffs, using the corroding staircase and precarious handrail to reach the highest peak. Even now that he lived alone, albeit not a very far distance from his parent's house, Will continued with his expeditions. As well as the physical health benefits of walking nearly 5 kilometres every morning, giving Will his muscled and toned physique, the walk was a way of retaining his mental health, which was not easy with a family such as his.

Turning away from the spectacular view, Will began his reluctant trudge home. Brushing fingers through his dark and somewhat shaggy hair, he prepared himself for the upcoming ordeal.

Francine Bennet, although no doubt meaning well, had convinced herself that she would never be happy in life until all five of her sons were married and well on their way to providing her with a houseful of grandchildren. To this end, she was constantly throwing and attending parties in order to push 'eligible' young girls (preferably wealthy) towards her 'darling' sons. Her husband, Tom, saw this obsession of hers as all quite amusing and had long ago washed his hands of trying to convince her that they boys could find their own wives. He merely shrugged his shoulders, chuckled to himself and told his sons to listen to their mother for fear of upsetting her 'poor fragile nerves'.

Will shook his head as he reflected on his mother's antics yesterday upon learning that a house in the neighbourhood that had long stood empty had finally been sold, to a young woman no less.  
She had stormed into the house, disregarding her two youngest son's aggressive fight over the coveted television remote, and shrieked:

"Tom! Tom, you'll never believe it! Oh don't even bother guessing, I'll tell you!" She exclaimed, (Francine Bennett was rather often exclaiming things) "Number 24 has been sold! Carrie down the road has just told me, sold to a young girl from Sydney! A young, rich girl from Sydney!" She was near hysterics now, but she went on, "Bridget next door says that when the girl came down to see the house she drove a Mercedes! Apparently, her name is Bingley. Jane Bingley, and she is quite pretty. I am sure she'll be perfect for one of our boys at least."

Tom looked exasperatedly up at his wife from behind the newspaper, "And, my dear Francine, why should that matter to me?"

"Tom! Don't be so daft, she'll have to like one of them and then they can marry and we'll finally get some grandchildren! I am sick of being the only one of my friends whose kids are all still single, it's no fun when all they talk about is their precious grandchildren," Here Francine frowned and continued petulantly, "At this rate, the boys'll be single until we're six feet under and we won't get any grandchildren. And then what will become of us?"

Tom chuckled, before replying cheerfully, "Franny, what'll it matter what becomes of us? You've just said we'll be six feet under."

Will could never quite believe that he shared DNA with his mother, nor with his three youngest brothers. Will had always known that despite growing up with four brothers, or perhaps in spite of it, he had never been all that good at playing football or video games, or all the countless other areas that he was expected to excel in. Most notably of these areas to his mother, was his apparent indifference to the task of finding a girl, buying a house in the suburbs and popping out two point five children all before his twenty fifth birthday.

The house was in view now, and Will contemplated, not for the first time, that spending a holiday in his parent's house was in hindsight a very bad decision. He had decided a while back that for the duration of his two week school holiday, during which his students would all be flocking to the beach, he would rather like to have, for the first time since he had moved out at eighteen, home cooked meals and freshly laundered clothes that he was not responsible for. Of course his mother's constant nagging and wailing about her 'chicks all leaving the nest and neglecting their poor mother' and the fact that he would never hear any peace unless he consented to spending some 'family time' with his younger brothers did not contribute at all to this decision.

Of his five brothers, thankfully only two still lived at home (three temporarily including himself); the two 'babies of the family', Logan and Kyle. Kyle was seventeen, Logan nearly sixteen, and both of them were notorious 'ladies-men', flirting with practically any member of the female species. Thankfully, their affections were not often returned and mostly rejected by their disgusted and indignant recipients. The two boys were the apples of their mother's eye, Logan in particular, and had not an ounce of sense between the pair of them. Marcus, the peculiar child, was currently spending his gap-year abroad and at last correspondence was located somewhere in North East Asia, or was is South West Africa? (No one is quite sure where, despite him repeating himself near twelve times). He had just celebrated his nineteenth birthday in true Marcus style, at a high altitude of the Himalayas ensconced in a Tibetan monastery where he sat in meditation for two days. The eldest Bennett, Charlie, is, if his mother were to be believed, the most capable of securing a beautiful, rich wife and providing her with a whole lot of children (and therefore a whole lot of 'brag material' for Francine Bennett to share with her friends). Charlie is on the brink of his twenty fourth birthday, owns a small two bedroom house about an hour's drive away, is a distinguished (for his age) and very-much in demand doctor at the local hospital where he works in paediatrics and is probably the nicest genuine guy in the Southern Hemisphere. Then there's Will. The second child , the 'great disappointment' to his mother, the secondary school teacher, fresh out of Uni, with not all that much going for him.

Will sighed once and braced himself as he eased the back door open, hoping for a silent and unnoticed entrance. Alas, he was disappointed.

"Fitzwilliam Bennett! Where have you been!" Francine exclaimed, waving her arms in accusation at her wildest son, "You cannot expect to make a good impression on the new neighbours dressed like that, for Heaven's sake. Go change, and be quick about it." She said before double checking her own appearance in the hallway mirror, "We're off the welcome Jane Bingley into the neighbourhood, and, you know, I hear she brought a few friends to stay. Perhaps we'll find you a girlfriend, Will, dear." Here Francine smiled before turning back and shooing her son up the stairs to change, all the while calling out to her husband to "Hurry up, Tom!" Will turned his back and climbed the stairs in mild shock. This was not at all how he expected his first day on holiday to be spent.


	3. Chapter 2

The house at Number 24 Longbourn Avenue was a large one. As one of the 'grander' houses of the neighbourhood there had always been much curiosity in the community about its - so far only temporary - inhabitants. There was Mr Browne, an elderly gentleman, who stayed for about six months and had a penchant for roaming the large and shady front garden 'eau natural', followed by the newlyweds Mr & Mrs Roberts staying only two months and departing as Mr Roberts and the former Mrs Roberts.  
The newest addition, Ms Bingley was a welcome change. The mother's of the neighbourhood especially appreciated the young, attractive prospective wife for their dear boys.

Will Bennet, on the other hand, couldn't have been more disinterested in the girl. He would much rather be reading a book, or revising next term's syllabus, or gardening, or having teeth pulled than to be standing here - at the front door of Number 24 - awaiting the girl who, according to his mother, was to be his future wife.

Francine smiled widely - too widely - as the door opened to reveal a slim, dark haired, creamy skinned beauty. Will suddenly found himself not as objectionable to his mother's plans as originally stated; she was beautiful. He observed dark hair, full red lips, slight curvy frame, and deep, mesmerising brown eyes boring into his own.

Elizabeth frowned as if just told a distasteful joke as she viewed the people congregated on Jane's doorstep. She observed a poorly dressed and over made up woman smiling madly, a slightly balding man checking his watch clutching a newspaper looking as if he would rather be anywhere else before turning her eyes to the youngest of the party. Well, she was momentarily taken aback. He was _hot. _She mentally shook herself; no, he wasn't. He was not gorgeous and she did not notice the slightly crooked nose, the charming off-kilter smile or the bright green eyes checking her out. Not at all.

She met the eyes of the woman, who was currently waving eagerly and on the verge of speaking. Elizabeth suddenly found that she could not deal with it. She turned away and called out to Jane.  
'Jane! You have guests.' Before escaping upstairs resolved to read until the nosy neighbours had departed. She felt that she couldn't remain in the curious man's presence without staring. And she couldn't afford to give anyone the wrong idea or instil false hope... especially not in herself.  
She heard Jane greeting the visitors enthusiastically and felt the eyes of the man on her back as she climbed the stairs. She didn't know why he had affected her so much.

Will observed the beautiful woman climb the stairs. So, he admitted, he had been wrong; the woman may have been beautiful but, boy, was she a bitch. She had not spoken except to call out rudely to her host, she had ignored his mother's greeting and dismissed his parents - and himself, in one cursory glance. What an arrogant, unpleasant woman. Will frowned, his eyes on her as she ascended the stairs. He mentally shook himself, turning his eyes instead to the smiling, slim, blonde woman approaching them.

'Please come in, I apologise for my friend, Elizabeth; she's a tad tired from our flight.' Jane smiled brightly at her guests. 'I'm Jane Bingley' she said politely, extending a hand to Francine.

Francine recovered from her shock at the rudeness of their previous greeting, and took the hand gratefully. 'Francine Bennet, we're down at number 32. Pleasure to meet you, dear. This is my husband, Tom. And my second eldest son, Will.' She gestured half-heartedly at the men flanking her, before launching into the songs of accolades and praises of her _other_ sons.

Jane led them into a bright, sun-lit sitting room, offering refreshments, and nodded along with Francine's prattle.

Will was shocked, Jane had not only diverted his mother from the slight she had suffered, but she was also being _polite _and _paying attention _to what Francine had to say. The only other person capable of that, aside from his mother's insane friends, was Charlie. Will smiled into his drink. Jane seemed just as sweet and good natured as Charlie. He was definitely going to have to arrange for some introductions.


End file.
